Shot shell and method of loading the same



Oct. 18, 1932. R. s. CLYNE SHOT SHELL AND METHOD OF LOADING THE SAME'Filed June 15, 1929 ,IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I 6 l @5597" 6 CL /VE,

Patented Oct. 18, 1932 ROBERT G.

CLYNE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN CARTRIDGE COM- PAN Y,OF EAST ALTON, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE SHOT SHELL AND METHOD0]? LOADING THE SAME Application filed June 15, 1929. Serial No.371,129.

shot shells, and

This invention pertains to method of loadmore particularly to a noveling the same.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a shot shell with awad between the powder and the shot which will, upon discharge,effectively seal the barrel of the gun against the escape of gasestherearound.

Another object is to provide such a shell with a wad which will expandreadily upon being subjected to the pressure of discharge so as to comeinto close sealing engagement with the gun barrel.

Another object is to provide such a shell with a wad which will be notonly expansive as to form and sealing engagement, but which will beself-lubricating.

Another object is to provide a method of loading a shot shell so as toform an improved wad between the powder and the shot.

Another object is to provide a method of loading whereby unformedmaterial may be placed in the shell and awad formed therefrom within theshell.

Another object is to provide a method in which wad material and alubricant may be placed in the shell and a wad formed within the shellin such a manner that upon discharge, the lubricant will be applied tothe gun barrel.

Another object is to provide a method of loading shot shells, which maybe carried out with increased rapidity and improved econl urther objectswill appear from the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which Figures 1 to 8, inclusive, are sectionalviews of a shot shell embodying this invention, illustrating thesuccessive steps which may be taken in loading the shell.

The ballistic characteristics of a shot shell are affected greatly bythe character of the wad placed between the powder and the shot. Thiswad transmits the force of the explosion to the shot load. Upon itscharacteristics depends the manner in which this force is applied to theshot charge. The flight of the shot will depend upon whether this wad ishard and unyielding, soft and pliable, or resilient. The flight of theshot will also depend upon whether or not the wad forms an effective gasseal with the walls of the gun barrel. If gas leaks past the wad andmingles with the'shot charge, it may have the effect of causing thepellets to be fused together, or it may cause an objectionablescattering of the shot in flight. Different kinds of shot loads will beaffected differently by similar characteristics in the wad. Ac-

cordingly, it is an important matter in the construction of shot shellsto be able to provide a wad of just the required characteristic. In theordinary manufacture of wads or shot shells, it has been the custom tomake up a finished wad before placing the same in the shell. Thisrequires that the wad must be sufliciently rigid so as to maintain itssize and shape until placed in the shell. This requirement itself placesa limitation upon the Variation in characteristics of the wad itselfwhich can be obtained.

In accordance with the present invention, the wad is formed within theshell itself and during the process of loading the shell. In accordancewith this method, a wider range of wad characteristics is obtainable,for the reason, among others, that it is not necessary to construct thewad in such a way that it will maintain its size and shape outside ofthe shell. The unformed wad material is placed in the shell and is thenformed into a wad in its place in the shell. When so formed, it may beheld in the desired form by other materials, such as powder and shot,occupying the same shell. Accordingly, wads of any degree of plasticityor elasticity maybe used, and greater leeway is thus obtained indetermining the action of the wad when the shell is discharged.

Any suitable wad material may be used.

Good results have been obtained with granulated cork and the like. Othermaterials suitable for the purpose may, however, be used, and the rangeof materials may include not only granular materials, but fibrous andcellular materials as well. The material is preferably applied incomminuted form. By comminuted materials, as used in this specificationand the appended claims, is meant material in sub-divided form, whethergranular or in fairly large particles, or in pulverized or shreddedform.

In order to provide that the particles of material will co-here in theformed wad, any suitable binder may be incorporated with the wadmaterial, either before or after placing the same in the shell. In caseswhere a high degree of cohesion is desired, a binder having adhesiveproperties may be employed.

As lubrication of the gun barrel by the discharge of the shot shell isvery desirable, a lubricant may be incorporated with the wad material soas to be applied to the barrel upon discharge. If such lubricant alsohas the properties of a binder, it may serve as both. Good results havebeen obtained with paraffin wax, which acts both as a binder and as alubricant. Other forms of binders or lubricants, such as tallows of anykind and particularly materials that will congeal, are suitable for usein forming wads in accordance with the present process.

A convenient manner of applying the hinder or lubricant is to mix thecomminuted wad material with such binder'or lubricant separately beforeplacing the'same in the shell, so as'to coat the particles of the wadmaterial with the binder or lubricant; For instance, it has been foundthat, by mixing granulated cork with molten paraffin in a mechanicalmixer, using a mixture of approximately 60 percent cork and 40 percentparalfin, the grains of cork were thoroughly coated with paraffin. Whenthis material was then allowed to cool, it was found that the coatedgrains did not become sticky or pack under normal storage conditions-andwere in such form that they could be used in a machine process forloading shells.

In the process as outlined in the accom panying drawing, the powdercharge 1 is first placed in the shell 2, which may be of any suitabletype. An ordinary pre -formed Wad 3, such as paper, felt or the like,may then be placed upon the powder. The unformed, comminuted wadmaterial 4, such as granulated cork, corn pith, or other suitablematerial is then placed upon the wad 3.

If the wad material has b en; previously coated, as described above, thewad may now be formed by pressure without further application of binderor lubricant. If, however, the uncoated wad material is used, it isdesirable, as the next step in the operation, to apply a suitablequantity of binder or lubricant 5 in liquid form, such as moltenparaffin, by depositing the same upon the charge of Wad material 4, asindicated in Figure 4.

A second pre-formed wad 6 may now be placed upon the wad material andpressure applied to the same in any suitable manner. Means for carryinout this step of the process, in which the shell is suitably supportedas in a holder 10 while a plunger 11 or other device is forced down uponthe wad, are well known in the art and need not 'be described here. Theamount of pressure applied may be regulated in accordance with thecharacteristics of the wad desired to be formed. The wad is thus formedin place in the shell. The shot charge 7 may now be placed upon the wad6, as indicated in Figure 6. Then, the final closing wad 8 is put inplace upon the shot charge and the shell'crimped as shown at 9, the lasttwo steps being illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.

It will be seen that the above described method of loading shot shellsprovides a shell of greatly improved characteristics. The steps of theprocess are easy to handle and the materialsand the working thereof arenot affected by atmospheric conditions Boththe wad material and thelubricant or binder may beselected so as to'provide a wad of any desiredcharacteristics. These characteristics can alsobe varied by varying theamount of pressureapplied during the forming of the wad. The thicknessand resiliency of the wad can also be controlledin this way. The processmay be carried out by machine methods and, as a result, great uniformityof product can be obtained. The finished wad forms an improved gascheck, as the pressure of the powder gases behind the wad, resisted bythe inertia of the shot charge in front of it, subjects the wad to apressure which causes it to expand againstvthe sides of the gun barrel.disintegrates and does not fly ofi as a unit. In addition to theseadvantages, the cost of manufacture of wad of this type is only afractioncf that of'other kinds of wadding heretofore used. It ispossible by this process to apply a plurality of wads of differentcharacteristics. This is a great convenienceyas sometimes it isdesirable to apply onewad which is harder or less resilient than theother. By employing two grades of wad material and difierent pressures,or diflerent grades of binding material, or any combination of these,characters of the various wads may be changed at will. 7

The complete shells prepared by this method have great uniformity intheir ballistic characteristics.

While the shell and process of this invention have been described as acomplete Whole, it is understood. of course,that certain features of thecombination may be useful without reference to others, and that the-useof such sub-combinations is contemplatedbythis invention. It is furtherobvious that varrious changes may be made, within the scope of theappended claims, in the details of construction or procedure withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention. It is, therefore, to beunderstood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific de-'tails shown and/0r described.

Upon discharge, the wad Having thus described the invention, What isclaimed is:

1. In the art of loading shot shells, the process comprising, placingpart of the load 5 in the shell, inserting wad material in the shell,placing binding material in the shell, and forming said materials into awad within the shell.

2. In the art of loading shot shells, the

, process comprising, placing part of the load in the shell, insertingWad material in the shell, placing lubricating material in the shell,and forming said materials into a wad within the shell.

3. In the art of making cartridge shells the process comprising,charging comminuted wad material into a shell, and con densing thematerial with a congealed substance maintained at a temperature sumcient to soften the same.

4:. In the art of making cartridge shells the process comprising,charging comminuted wad material and a congealable substance into ashell, condensing the material and congealing the substance within theshell.

5. In the art of making cartridge shells the process comprising,charging comminuted wad material and a congealable substance into ashell, and condensing the ma- 3 terial while the substance iscongealing.

6. In the art of making cartridge shells the process comprising,charging comminuted wad material and an uncongealed congealablesubstance into the shell, compressing the material and permittingoongelation of the substance while the material is compressed.

7. A shot shell having a propellant powder charge and a wad overlyingsaid powder charge and composed of comminuted wad 4O material and acongealable substance assembled in the shell and condensed therein whilethe substance is soft so as tolimit the pressure necessary to unify thewad material over the powder charge.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature this 27th day of June, 1928.

ROBERT G. CLYNE.

GERTIFECATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent N0. 1,883,575. October 18, 193

ROBERT G. CLY NE.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification0ft above numbered patent requiring currection as follows: Page 3, line18, 022 3, for "crmgealeti" read "congeaiabie"; and that the saidLetters Patent she: be read with this correction therein that the samemay conform to the mm of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 7th day of February, A. D. 1933.

M. J. Mama Acting (mmmlssloner 0f Pate;

(Seal) CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,883,575. flctober 18, 1932.

ROBERT G. GLYNE.

it is hereby certified that error appears it; the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3,line 18, claim 3, for "congealed" read "congeaiabie"; and that the saidLetters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the samemay conform to the record of the ease in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 7th day of February, A. D. 1933.

w M. J. ;\loor, (beat) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

